Asked Whether He Can Read, Trump Holds Up a Bible

by Bob Schwartz

Today, Joe Scarborough writes about one of his experiences with Trump. Scarborough and his MSNBC cohost/girlfriend Mika Brzezinski were once supporters of Trump, until the reality of Trump came clear to them, with Trump then turning on them. Scarborough writes:

Mika Brzezinski and I had a tense meeting with Trump following what I considered to be a bumbling debate performance in September 2015. I asked the candidate a blunt question.

“Can you read?”

Awkward silence.

“I’m serious, Donald. Do you read?” I continued. “If someone wrote you a one-page paper on a policy, could you read it?”

Taken aback, Trump quietly responded that he could while holding up a Bible given to him by his mother. He then joked that he read it all the time.

The message here from Trump is typically vague and mysterious—and probably dishonest. Does he mean that since he reads the Bible all the time, he can and does read anything? Does he mean that since he reads the Bible, he doesn’t need to read anything else? Does he believe that just holding up the Bible will provide him protection from embarrassing questions? To return to a question addressed in Fire and Fury and asked in earnest by Scarborough, can and does Trump read?